Mourning is better than feasting

The speaker, Guy Lambeau, discusses the concept of mourning and how it is viewed in relation to birth and death. He explains that King Solomon's declaration that the day of death is better than the day of birth is not meant to say that mourning is a good thing, but rather that mourning over one's sins is necessary for spiritual growth. Lambeau references passages from Ecclesiastes and Luke to support this idea. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of repentance and drawing closer to God through mourning. Welcome to our weekly exhortation. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for your precious time. My name is Guy Lambeau, servant of God, servant of Jesus Christ. We generally regard those who mourn and who are beaten as not very fortunate. But against all expectations, King Solomon says the day of death is better than the day of one's birth. How can we understand this declaration? Praise the Lord. I am sure today's message will be a shock for natural men, even for some of those who are with him. Here we go. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 1, it is written, the day of death is better than the day of one's birth. Praise the Lord. This declaration of King Solomon, inspired by God, affirms the way of thinking of the world. In all sincerity, what blessing can one have in a situation where there is nothing but weeping and mourning? The day of death is better than the day of one's birth. Praise the Lord. First, let's try to understand this passage. We know that the day of death is a time of mourning and of sadness. We all know what it is like to lose a loved one. It is the hardest moment for anyone. However, the day of birth refers to when a child is born, and generally, it is a time of overflowing merriment and laughter. Now let's rephrase this verse. When King Solomon says the day of death is better than the day of one's birth, he means Mourning is better than feasting, or mourning is preferable to feasting. Praise the Lord. Let's have a closer look at the declaration. In fact, common sense tells us that it is better to avoid sadness when possible. If we had the choice between blutter and crying, it is completely natural to prefer the cheerfulness that accompanies laughter. And yet, King Solomon seems to tell us the opposite. According to him, it is better to be in the shoes of those who cry. Yes, you hear it right. When we read this verse very carefully, we find that King Solomon was not contrasting birth and death, nor was he suggesting that it is better to attend a funeral than to attend a naming ceremony. The intent of Solomon is to suggest something quite different. What then? Well, it is true, in most cases, at the funeral ceremonies, we mourn our loved one, but at the same time, we cry more about our own cases. We think about when it finally comes to our turn and what will be our destination. That's the question in everyone's mind. Am I wrong? So, King Solomon used this reality that men face daily to speak to their hearts. Contrary to what we can imagine, this message teaches us about the mourning of repentance, about the spiritual mourning or the mourning of sin which leads us to eternal joy. Praise the Lord! We find a similar verse in the Gospel of Luke which presents this situation in an even more striking way. The Lord Jesus said, Who are you who laugh now? You will mourn and weep. Luke chapter 6 verse 21 through 25. He says, Don't think everything is fine because you are laughing now. One day, the situation will be reversed. You will experience sadness and tears will flow from your eyes. Furthermore, we notice that in this beatitude, the Lord Jesus makes two statements about mourning. First of all, he says in verse 21, Blessed are you who weep now. Then in verse 25, we find the same statement but presented in its negative form. He says, Who are you who laugh now? You will mourn and weep. We can see that we find the notion of mourning and joy in these verses just as in the passage in Ecclesiastes because the person who makes the declaration in Luke is the same in Ecclesiastes, Jesus Christ. Finally, the question is whether you will cry now on earth or later in hell. I think we start understanding little by little what King Solomon says. In Psalm 38, David recognized his sin and knew that God had the right to punish him severely. This painful experience caused great pain which he described in this chapter. David was so troubled by his sin that he cried about it every day. With a spirit of repentance, he woke David in mourning. Notice David was not mourning a parent but rather he was mourning over his sin. Hallelujah. Conclusion. Praise the Lord. When Jesus says the day of death is better than the day of birth, it is probably not to mean that mourning is a good thing to experience but rather he wanted to say that anyone who wanted to see his face one day must mourn over his sins while he still can. You know, mourning cannot be a good thing. However, it can certainly do good to the sinner who cries over his sins. Mind you, the fear, the joy of this world distance us from spiritual realities. No doubt, this is why Jesus uses this style of language to tell us it. Every time we mourn over our sins, we draw closer to him than delighting in the things the world offers us for the end of good things is death. Praise the Lord. You know, God sometimes uses real life examples to illustrate spiritual realities in order to teach us. That has been the case in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 1. Friend, if you are well acquainted with the teaching of the Lord Jesus, you will soon realize that he uses a lot of such figures of belief. For example, in Matthew chapter 5 verse 6, Jesus declared, Bless are those who hunger and thirst, for they shall be filled. You know, we generally regard anyone who hungers and thirsts as not very fortunate, right? But here, the Lord Jesus says that they are the blessed ones. Hallelujah. Further in Matthew chapter 5 verse 10, it is written, Blessed are those who are persecuted. Once again, the Lord Jesus disturbs our sense of value by saying this. How can one be blessed when he is persecuted? So both in Ecclesiastes and in the Beatitude, the Lord Jesus is teaching us to view mourning, hunger and suffering from a different angle. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. For him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen. Well, we have come to the end of today's message. I hope you enjoyed it. If God wills, we will be together next time. God bless. Shalom. I want to lift you up. I want to praise your name. I long to see heaven. I want to see your face. Teach me how to love. Teach me your grace. My heart is yearning to feel the tender touch of your hand. Oh, my. Lead me to that river flowing from your fountain. Let me fly like an eagle way up high. Lead me through the valley up to the highest mountain. Take me away into your kingdom up in the sky. Lead me to that river flowing from your fountain. Let me fly like an eagle way up high. Lead me through the valley up to the highest mountain. Take me away into your kingdom up in the sky. Take me away into your kingdom up in the sky.